My Interview Experience for the Microsoft Customer Experience Internship – January 2025

I applied for the Microsoft Customer Experience Internship directly through the Microsoft Careers portal, without any referral. On January 22, 2025, I received a call from an HR representative. She asked me to describe my technical skillset and walk her through the projects I had worked on. Toward the end of the conversation, she informed me that I had been shortlisted for two interview rounds, both of which would be elimination-based. The first round was scheduled for January 27.

Initially, I was unsure about the exact nature of the role. Although it was listed as technical, I later received an email asking me to select a domain within the Customer Experience track, which added to my confusion. Nonetheless, I began preparing, focusing on computer science fundamentals.

Round 1: Computer Science Fundamentals

Time: 9:00 AM

The interviewer was friendly and made me feel comfortable early on. We began with a discussion around operating systems—topics like process scheduling, context switching, and process management. He presented a real-world scenario:

Suppose a hospital’s software system needs to prioritize oxygen delivery to patients in critical condition. Which scheduling algorithm would be most suitable?

I answered with “priority-based scheduling,” which he acknowledged as correct.

Next, I was asked to write a C program implementing a basic calculator and explain how I would handle division by zero. I used an if-else check, which led to a follow-up discussion on exception handling. He also asked me to explain the difference between static and const keywords.

At the end of the round, I requested feedback. He advised me to improve how I articulate my technical thoughts and to use more precise terminology.

Round 2: Data Structures and Resume Discussion

Time: 12:30 PM (HR informed me about this round just 30 minutes in advance)

This was the final technical round. It began with a brief introduction, followed by a DSA problem:

Given a binary 2D matrix where 1 represents blocked cells and 0 represents open paths, find the shortest path from (0,0) to (n-1,n-1).

This was a graph traversal problem that required a breadth-first search (BFS) approach. The interviewer was collaborative and offered hints throughout, encouraging me to think aloud and improve my solution step by step.

We then shifted to my resume. He asked me to explain each project line-by-line, focusing on the technical aspects. One of his questions was about how Firebase works in the background to provide real-time updates in an application—something I had worked on as part of a project.

Outcome: I wasn’t selected, but the interview was a valuable learning experience.